Elio E Le Storie Tese
Gattini

THE REVIEW

How ahead of their time they were in 1996 when they painted Italy as a land of wrongdoing? Very much. But this has been said and written hundreds of times. Elio e le Storie Tese are back, and they return with an operation that is undoubtedly commercial but a well-executed commercial operation: "Gattini". A collection of 20 years of history, in 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and they released their first album, revised and corrected under the lens of the orchestral version. And even this has been done dozens of times, from Deep Purple downwards. But Stefano Belisari and company can be forgiven for everything, even a commercial operation. Also because, as they say themselves: "Today being transgressive is a brand: it is extremely transgressive to have a tuned orchestra that keeps time, not going with trans, getting married, and staying with the same woman for twenty years". A sharp statement, as sharp as their ironic attacks on society have always been.

The confirmation of their abrasive way of seeing things lies entirely in the only original song, "Storia di un bellimbusto", where normality is painted in a line of coke, in a Porsche under the seat, in the fear of serious relationships. The hilarious final dialogue of the dandy who crashed into a worker's van at 4 AM on Corso Como, where the only witness to the accident is a passerby who saw nothing and who: "I'm here just because I like dick", fully depicts the wreckage of the post-crisis reflux.

For the rest, they are orchestral versions sometimes done well, sometimes less so, of classics, even from the early days like "John Holmes". All with the usual array of friends lending their voices: Enrico Ruggeri, Max Pezzali, Lucio Dalla, and Sir Oliver Skardy this time.

As always, the CD's artwork is very well curated, featuring four tender kittens grappling with a trombone in graphics all based on Deutsche Grammophone. Inside the booklet, I must mention an affectionate tribute to my late fellow citizen Paolo 'Feiez' Panigada who appears in a beautiful youthful photo.

Released on October 30 in a double version, normal and with DVD containing the video of the unreleased track and the making of the album preparation, the album was presented with a concert at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi with the Toscanini Philharmonic and broadcast live by Sky. A prequel to the tour that will start on January 17, but without an orchestra, around the theaters of Italy. Once again, the spiritual father of Elio, Frank Zappa, was invoked for the operation; after all, at a certain point in his career, he too ventured into the arms of classical music, a path almost without return. I don't think it will be the same for the Elio gang.